Month: February 2008

Emu

The Emu is Australia’s tallest native bird and will reach a height of 3 to 5 feet when standing upright. It may also reach weights of 60 to 70 pounds and is a bit lighter than the cassowary, which is a distant cousin. They have very shaggy feathers which are colored a grayish brown and

Sea Otter

The sea otter is one of the very smallest marine mammals, and spends most of its life in the sea. Males weigh about 100 pounds and are about five feet long, while the females are smaller weighing about 60-75 pounds and measure just about 3-4 feet long. The sea otters have the thickest fur of

Peacock

The peacock is a very large bird, and colorful, typically bright greens and blues. Peacocks are a type of pheasant, that is known for the iridescent tail feathers that they can spread out in a train that flows behind them, or spread upward, to form a fan of color. The peacocks tail is usually about

Toco Toucan

The Toco Toucan is only at home in the tropical rain forest of South America, living no where else in the world, yet it is known and loved by nearly everyone on every continent. The Toucan has been made popular in television and advertising, its huge over sized bill, with its bright array of colors

Albatross

The view of an albatross in flight is more than spectacular, looking like a gliding plane. The Albatross is a feathered giant, with a wing span that is longer than any other bird alive, up to 12 feet across. There are about twenty five species of Albatross, with the wandering albatross being the largest of

Warthog

The wart hog is a medium sized pig, inherently wild, and are the proud possessors of a short neck a wide broad head, powerful strong bodies which are covered with bristly hair that is colored black or white, set on tough gray skin. They have long tasseled tails, and larger rather fleshy wart type growths

Alaskan King Crab

King Crabs, or as they are sometimes known, stone crabs exist around the world, but the Alaskan king Crab is made up of three different types that are fished for commercially, blue king crabs, golden king crabs and red king crabs. The mature male of the species will usually have a leg span of around

Hyena

Classification: Mammal Diet: Omnivore Average lifespan in the wild: Up to 25 years Size: Head and body, 34 to 59 in Tail: 10 to 14 in Weight: 110 to 190 lbs The Spotted Hyena , also called by some, the Laughing Hyena, is a famous scavenger from the plains and savannas often eating on the

Sand Tiger Shark

The Sand Shark, which is also known as a sand tiger has a very aggressive and ferocious look. This look is deceptive, with their mouth full of teeth, sharp and sticking out in all different directions. They have large heavy bodies and many teeth, showing even when the mouth is closed, which gives them the

Dingo

Although the dingo is typically thought of as the wild dog of Australia, it actually occurs throughout Asia also, though it is widely thought that the origin of the Australian dingo may have been brought about by the introduction of the Asian dogs some 3 to 4 thousand years ago. These beautiful animals range from

King Cobra

The King Cobra is not the most venomous snake in the world, but it is in fact among their numbers and the amount of venom that it injects in a single bite is enough to kill about twenty five people, or to drop an elephant. It seems extremely unfair then, that this most poisonous snake

Mudpuppy

The Mudpuppy, also called a waterdog is actually a salamander, of a much larger size, and one of the few that actually make noise, which is what gives them their name. The squeaky sound they make sounds like the barking of a small dog. Having caught these and released them in swiftly flowing Pennsylvania streams,

Ostrich

The largest bird in the world, is flightless. We mean, of course, the ostrich, which ranges across the African savanna and deserts, getting most of the water they need from the foods they eat. The flightless ostrich is the world’s largest bird. They roam African savanna and desert lands and get most of their water

Arctic Skua

Skua’s are sometimes called Avian pirates because they are so very aggressive and live at sea. This nick name is more than well earned. The Skua steals a great deal of its food from terns, puffins, and other birds that are carrying fish or other food items back to their nests and young. The Arctic